I can’t believe it’s already time for my next income report. If you’re a newer reader, you haven’t missed much because I just started doing monthly income reports last month to track the income I earn from online work better and be accountable for my goal of earning at least $1500 per month by the end of the year.
Earning at least $1500 per month in extra side hustle income is a must if I want to pay back all my debt by the end of next year.
Now that I’m getting married next year, earning more side hustle income is crucial.
I’ve been freelancing since February, so it hasn’t even been a year yet. Most of my income comes from freelance writing and I’m trying to diversify my online income by increasing my virtual assistant gigs, selling items online and building up my blog to earn a little income from it in the future.
Additional goals for last month were to pitch more, do some guest posts and increase my blog’s traffic.
Unfortunately, in September I didn’t get to pitch much at all. I sent a few, but most of my time was spent working ahead on projects for current clients so I could attend FinCon. Then, settling back in, reorganizing and following up with people after the conference.
In September I earned: $920
This is money I actually received in September so a lot of the work was completed a few weeks ago and this total represents the income I earned before taxes are taken out. Since I earned this money on the side of my full-time job as a freelancer, I’m responsible for paying taxes on it so I try to put up 25-30% each month for tax purposes.
Here’s how that total breaks down:
Freelance Writing: $800
Virtual Assistant Work: $120
Affiliate Sales: $0
Ads on my site via Google AdSense: $0 ( You need to earn at least $100 from Google AdSense in order to get paid so right now I’m at $25.35. So it might be a bit before I get paid with them again.)
I landed a few new writing gigs toward the end of September, so I’m sure my income will surpass $1000 next month and that’s pretty exciting! Freelance writing really took off for me after I started working with Cat Alford from Budget Blonde. She’s a successful freelance writer and coach who helps people learn how to get paid to write for blogs either as a side hustle or a full-time job.
If you’re interested in getting started with freelance writing and earning good money from it, I highly recommend her online course.
I’m all about investing in myself and learning how to improve my side business each month from successful people who have been where I’m at currently so I’ve got on the waiting list for Gina Horkey’s How to Become a Virtual Assistant in 30 Days or Less email course so I can learn some extra tips and techniques for launching the virtual assistant side of my side business.
Gina earned more than $11,000 last month alone from freelancing and almost 40% of her earnings came strictly from virtual assistant work.
This month I started tracking my hours worked so it will be interesting to see how much time I spend freelancing and how I can work more efficiently. I haven’t been tracking my hours strictly because deep down I know I’m probably working close to 60 hours each week between freelancing and my other job.
Goals for My Blog and Online Income:
Sarah from The Frugal Millionaire has an awesome goal to boost her online income to earn $10,000 per month by next year. Oh, and did I mention she wants to do this by only spending 20 hours per week or so on freelancing and blogging?
I told Sarah she would be my hero for pulling this off (since she works full-time and has kids as well) and it’s really motivated me to push my income goals even further. I would love to earn at least $5,000 per month from online work by next year and I’m excited to join in on her challenge.
Freelancing and blogging has really expanded my horizons and opened the door to the idea that I can control and increase my income on my own terms. Here are some of my goals for this month.
Follow up with more people from FinCon and send more pitches: I met so many wonderful people at FinCon and I still need to finish going through my stack of business cards and connect with everyone. I also want to send at least 3 good pitches per week for freelance or virtual assistant work.
Work on my blog’s redesign: This has been a big goal that I am finally focusing in on for this month. I need to implement a new blog design, reorganize this site, add some new pages and make it more user friendly. There’s no easy way to do all this. I’ll just need to block out some time to get it done and plan everything. But I’m excited to see the results.
Launch my Ebay store: I’ve talked about this and hinted on it long enough. I’m finally ready to work on this and start listing some items this month.
Increase my social media following: I’ve been pretty laid back with this lately, but since I manage social media for a client of mine, I realize I need to start working on my own profiles and engaging with my audience better on various different platforms. I recently started a Facebook page for the blog so please give it a like/follow 🙂 My Twitter and Pinterest handles are @mydebtepiphany
How was your month? Did you earn any extra income? Are there any side hustles you are considering trying?
*There are affiliate links in this post…but not many 🙂 All opinions and thoughts expressed on this blog are mine and I never mention or promote things I don’t truly believe in or find valuable. If you click on something and make a purchase, I might be compensated and I may use the money to bribe my son with Reese’s cups (his favorite) so he will clean his room up more efficiently. World’s greatest parent over here!
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Michelle Jackson says
Love seeing all of your progress Chonce! Hard work pays off.
Choncé says
Yes it does!
My Urban Family says
Congrats on the progress! This past month dipped down a bit for me because I focused on the blog a bit more and let my freelance slide a bit. But I’m hoping after a few months I may be able to level that back out 🙂
Choncé says
I’m sure the time and effort you invested into your website will all pay off 🙂
creativebugger1 says
Congrats on your progress! I earned a few hundred extra dollars last month from substitute teaching. I’m hoping to eventually match that amount with hustles from home, so I don’t have to do that anymore. My goal for that deadline is July of 2016. I know that I need to just find some hours that I can work and stick with them.
Choncé says
That’s an awesome goal! Substitute teaching doesn’t sound like a bad idea to boost your income, but I can understand why you want to keep side hustling and doing work from your home. I love working from home 🙂
Tonya @ Budget and the Beach says
Good for you!! I don’t know how you manage that, a full time job, and a son! I’ve been on the fence about taking courses to increase work and earn more money just because obviously it costs money up front. Of which I really don’t have. But then again…if I can earn more from taking it…
Choncé says
I’m not even going to lie and say it’s easy because it’s not. I’m not afraid to reach out to others for support though and really crack down on managing my time well so my schedule is manageable for now. Plus, it helps that I love all my side hustles and I’m focused on a major goal.
lovetteorleavette says
That is good Chonce! I think you are well on your way to meeting your goal. Playing multiple roles can be exhausting and stressful but it looks like you are doing it very well. I’m sure you’ll be able to reach your 5k/month goal in no time.
I joined the challenge as well.. My goal is $1k/month.
I’d love to take some course but I’m not at the point financially where I can invest in myself.
Choncé says
That’s great that you are joining in on the challenge and getting started with freelancing/side hustling! I’m sure there are a lot of free resources you can reference to help get you started before you decide to invest in more targeted coaching. thewritelife.com is a good site that has a lot of good info and resources as well.
kay ~ the barefoot minimalist says
Whoa! Reeses cups! I had such an addiction to those a few years back. Yum! Lucky kid! 🙂 Well, I have to tell you, your post is quite impressive and inspiring, but it also tired me out! Where do you get all that energy? If you can bottle it, you’ll definitely hit millionaire status, no kidding! Keep up the great work and I wish you all the best, Chonce. 🙂
Choncé says
I think I went through a stage where I liked them a little when I was younger, but this boy is obsessed right now lol. Thanks Kay! I might not feel energetic all the time, but I have a lot of drive so that helps.
Jason @ TheButlerJournal.com says
Congrats on your side hustle income!
Choncé says
Thanks Jason!
Kate Dore says
Nice work, Choncé! I’m still working through pitches from FinCon, too. $1,500 per month is side income is a great goal. And you were pretty close this month! Keep up the hard work.
Choncé says
Thanks Kate! Take it one day at a time with the follow ups 🙂
hollyatclubthrifty says
Great job on your income! Sounds awesome!
I did good in terms of income in September – same old stuff! I would like to earn more, but need to keep a balanced family life as well. It’s always a challenge!
Choncé says
Thanks Holly! I agree, work-life balance is always an ongoing challenge, that’s why I try so hard to stay organized and use my time wisely. Working efficiently and not getting side tracked can save a lot of time 🙂
Kristi @ Femme Frugality says
Congratulations on all of your side hustle income! That’s awesome, Chonce!
Choncé says
Thanks Kristi! 🙂
Cat@BudgetBlonde says
Hey girl! Thank for the shout out. 🙂 You are going to kill your goal for October!! I just know it.
Choncé says
Thanks Cat!
DC @ Young Adult Money says
Congrats on the great freelance income! Sarah’s goal of $10k a month is awesome and I personally would love to get that as well, especially if I could do it on the side. I have no plans to quite my full-time job so to have that sort of extra income to invest would be incredible.
I’ve been meaning to redesign my blog for more than 2 years now. I’ve bought a premium theme (thesis), hired two designers (neither worked out), and I’m back at square one. I’ve had a ton of difficulty finding a qualified WordPress designer and I’m blown away at how difficult it is to find someone who can make my life easy and just design the site with the functionality I want. Kudos to you for going the DIY route, but if you ever are in the market to hire a designer let me know and maybe we can both give each other leads.
Choncé says
Sorry to hear it’s been a little rough with the design aspect 🙁 I’m trying to pull my design off on a budget so I’m probably going to go with a template this time vs. something custom because when I started this blog, I just rushed to get a design up and while what I have currently is okay…I’m not in love with it and I see 1000 things that can be improved. I actually work at a web design company so I know plenty of great designers, haha. We use WordPress but we don’t specialize in blogs even though we can do them and charge about $800 for a responsive website design with the logo redesign included which isn’t a bad price, but I can’t afford that even if I were to get a discount probably.
Sarah says
Awesome income, Chonce!! And thanks for the shout-out!!! Something tells me you will be at $5K per month (at least!) in a year!! Keep up the great work!! And one thing that helps me with the time management / work life balance thing is just taking it day by day. If I think about everything I have to get done in a week, I have a panic attack haha. But day by day is so much easier!
Choncé says
Thanks Sarah!
Kristin says
I am sooo late to this post but so excited to comment! Great job for the month. It’s awesome how you keep landing new clients, I am so impressed. I really love Sarah’s challenge – I think I am going to join too, but need to pick an amount. I can’t wait to see how your ebay store goes!
Choncé says
Thanks Kristin!